Tom Orsborn: Odom was awful; Gasol not much better

I can’t help but think the outcome might have been different had Lamar Odom showed up for the Lakers.

The veteran power forward missed 9 of 11 shots from the field and 5 of 8 free-throw attempts. He also had five turnovers.

Those numbers offset his 11 rebounds and six assists, both team highs.

All in all, it was a far cry from his 20-point, 11-rebound outing in Game 2, a 101-71 crusher delivered by the Lakers. In that contest, Odom hit 7 of 10 shots from the field and 6 of 8 free throws.

“I don’t know,” Odom said after Sunday night’s debacle. “I felt good. I was aggressive. My shots didn’t go. I kept trying to go (to the rim). A couple of times I missed shots I could have made. Then you come back and you take it too personally and try to make a play. When that doesn’t work, you hur tthe momentum of the game and the momentum of the team.”

Odom’s failure at the rim really didn’t have much to do with the Spurs defense. He just flat out couldn’t finish.

“There’s no way I can play like that and us be successful…I’ll take the blame on that,” he said. “I know I can play better than that.”

Asked what happened to his big men, Phil Jackson said, “Indecision, I think. I think they weren’t decisive on what they wanted to get done. They had their opportunities and missed some layups and things just didn’t go well.”

If the Lakers want to maintain control of the series, that better not be the case for Odom and Gasol on Tuesday.